Saturday was the night for me, much like everyone else I’d been anticipating the return of Doctor Who for a long time. I’ll admit that in advance of the show I wasn’t particular taken with the plot for the season opener but then hardly any of the first episodes have grabbed me beyond Season 1’s Rose and even that hasn’t stood up to repeat viewings due to it’s new nature and the actors finding their feet.
I’ve already read the majority opinion, over 8 million viewers, an 88 appreciation index…for those wondering, yeah, these are good figures to have…and many diatribes from long term Whovians slowly getting bored of the new style formula. I’m a long time Whovian myself, my favourite Doctor was Jon Pertwee, I wasn’t a fan of the movie, I know the Doctor can only regenerate thirteen times before he won’t be able to again, I’m well aware that the Daleks are actually genetically engineered Kaleds from the planet Skaro and that the Cybermen actually converted their planet into one giant mothership that roams space, much like the Dark Angels in Warhammer 40,000.
Yet I loved this episode. In fact, I much preferred it to other season openers, it certainly floated my boat.
Warning, there be spoilers beyond the cut.
The fact that the Doctor opened the episode alone didn’t quite register this time round. Previously he’d lost Rose which was heartbreaking, the connection and relationship had been fully established so that we felt her loss. I didn’t feel Martha’s absence, no doubt because I frankly can’t stand the woman. Freema Agyeman, Martha Jones, they both get on my nerves in equal doses and I was really quite pleased when she departed last series, even if that pleasure was ruined by the knowledge that she would return to haunt both Who and Torchwood.
That isn’t to say I was totally oblivious. The sweet moment right near the beginning when the Doctor is doing his Sherlock thing inside the TARDIS before realising he’s actually talking to himself was a well played moment, however my first thought was “That’s right…no Rose.” Literally my first thought, forget Martha, my mind went straight to Rose. So I felt the situation however had I been more of a fan of Martha (or a fan at all) I would probably have thought the early sequence was more meaningful than it actually was.
What I did notice was a very interesting mirror of the opening scenes for Rose. Now granted Donna wasn’t living out her own life, she was clearly attempting to find her way back into the Doctor’s, however the flow and idea was there. Companion and Doctor going about their businesses separately, the Doctor clearly being shown as already in the middle of the action which gave us a nice idea that he has a life outside of what we see. I quite enjoyed that.
Next was the obvious point, the performance of Catherine Tate. I was never a fan of her before and when it was announced she would be in The Runaway Bride, I cringed. Now I was proven wrong then and once again I’ve been impressed by her. I’m not saying she’s taken to playing a straight character however I love the humour she does bring to the show, the humour which many fans are railing against. Who has granted done humour before, in the eighties, with disastrous results (the show was axed) however with RTD writing and the combination of Tate and Tennant acting it, they pull it off quite nicely. Some great laugh out loud moments throughout, not least of which the infamous miming scene.
For those wondering by the way, a transcript of the conversation is below.
There is however one strong feeling I get from the interaction between the two characters. I feel there’s an uncertainty to it, maybe to do with the fact that Donna is a new character or by the final scene which I’ll discuss in a moment however I get the sense that there’s something destructive about Donna’s relationship with the Doctor. It could even be to do with her obsessive need to find him, or the fact that her Grandfather appears to know more than he’s letting on.
What really sealed the episode for me however was that final scene. I haven’t read or heard many reactions which don’t talk about just how stunned everyone was when the shows worst kept secret was still launched on us as a surprise. We all knew Billie Piper was returning however nobody (except obviously the production crew) knew she would be right there in the first episode, in one of the most cryptic scenes imaginable. Why was she there? Also, why did she just fade away like that? I’ve heard many spoilers and I’m pretty certain one of them is actually part of the truth behind it but I won’t spoil it for the rest of you, also I may have been completely misled.
The episode had flaws though and that’s what I’m getting to finally.
The amazing fantastic all-singing-all-dancing Sonic Screwdriver. The episode really was beginning to take the mick at the end with it’s use of the Doctor’s favourite gadget, after he used it to unlock a million doors, lock a million doors, open a cat flap, burn Miss Foster’s hand, create a sonic boom effect with the Sonic Pen, lock down a lift so only other sonic devices could activate it and finally to untie knots. He untied knots with it. What a lazy plot device. I’m a fan of the Sonic Screwdriver but seriously, there can be too much sonic.
My next complaint is a fairly major one this time round. Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures are both set purely on Earth and have managed to run the gamut of plot events. In Doctor Who all four season openers have been set on Earth, two season finale’s were set on Earth and the first season finale was set on a space station orbiting Earth. Doctor Who really needs to be reaching for the stars more. When William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Peter Davidson regenerated it was on alien worlds, many classic series favourites were set on other planets, there were a smattering of alien ships and even the occasional alternate dimension. When Jon Pertwee’s Doctor was exiled to Earth without a chance to leave the fans and writers soon became bored, so why has Russell T Davies gone back to bombarding us with Earth related story lines?
All in all a great episode though. Also, can I have an Adipose? Please? 
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